mountain and motorbike and midget hummingbirds! oh my!

Arrived in Chiang Mai (for the 2nd time!) early Friday morning via bus from Bangkok. Its about a 10 hour journey-- a bumpy, cantankerous ride. However Timo my German travel mate and I were fortunate to land ourselves a cushy bus full of locals rather than farang with ac, blankies and a "ride attendant" providing smiles, snacks, moist towelettes and coffee. Timo worked on the farm in Bang Phra and plans on making it to the Golden Triangle via Chiang Mai & Rai. 5 out of 7 days a week Timo wears a t-shirt with someone sexy on, posed contrapasto- Kate Moss and Jim Morrison and the likes. I give him a hard time for it.

Timo and I parted ways this morning and I rented a motorbike to get out of the city and explore the nearby mountains with the intent of going as deep and far as felt reasonably safe-- fuel and daylight providing. Jon and I also went up this mountain when we were here about 3 weeks ago, but turned around soon after temple Doi Suthep. I stopped for a quick bite to eat near the temple (same place Jon and I went- I liked the familiar comfort!) and had a quick run up the steps to the temple for a bit of exercise. Got some funny looks when I reached the top and turned right around- had my Doi Suthep fix 3 weeks ago though- just in it for the burn folks.

Its cool on the mountain- you actually get to wear a jacket! A welcome cozy after sweating face all the time. I read in the lonely planet about some villages and a national park of sorts beyond Doi Suthep. Onward! Winding roads- hairpin turns. I'm officially a pro at the lean-to-turn. I came upon a place so dropdead gorgeous- so nestled, charming, full of goodies- dare I compare it to my Grandma Naes ppocket. It was a coffee farm run by Chiang Mai dept of agriculture. No more than 10 people around the entire place- hardly any farang. I enjoyed a cup of coffee with entirely too much powdered cream and sugar, biscuits and went for a walk. There were midget hummingbirds- appearing at first glance to be oversized bugs. Butterflies everywhere- bright feathered cocks and irresistably autonomous dogs.

Back on the road- next I came upon a small village. I drove all the way through, hesitant to stop. Maybe because everyone was staring at me. The road turned into pot-holed, a mini-river-runs-through-it, red dirt at the end of the village- thought it best not to take my rented motorbike down that so I turned around and stopped at a hill tribe handicraft shop in the village. Beautiful embroidered crafts- kind and wide Thai faces hoping i'll buys something. Bought two items with friends in mind. Walked to another shop the sun was shining on. The woman there spoke English and asked how I got there. I said motorbike- she said "nueng?" just one? just you? - just me, alone I said and her face said your crazy but I like it.

I asked if I had to return the way I came to get back to Chiang Mai, or if I could continue on the dirt road, down the mountain. She said I could continue on the dirt road- "very bumpy"- she bounced up and down in her seat and laughed. So off I went! It took about an hour to get to the bottom of the mountain and I loved every I'm-going-to-bust-my-motorbike-rental, moment of it. It was about 4pm by the time I made it to the valley. On my way down I passed several groups on proper off-roading bikes, each of us nodding and laughing as we passed by. Several times today I laughed out loud in solitude :)

Check out photos from today- GORGEOUS!

Leaving for Chiang Rai tomorrow.



Looking back on my mountain, after motor decent.



I am Farang

Farang = common slang for western tourists in Thailand. (sounds like Fahhlong when pronounced)

I'm in Sriracha- on a break from Neil's wwoofing in Bang Phra. Sriracha is about 15 minutes away on "songtow" - a truck-like mini bus - costs about 12 bat. 30 bat is equal to about 1 US dollar. My guesthouse was 160 bat in Sriracha and provided a double bed, fan overhead and a Thai style toilet that drops directly into the sea beneath me. Sriracha is a popular Japanese tourist destination and as such is full of Japanese restaurants and karaoke bars. Other western tourists are far and few between. The whole "Farang to Farang" dynamic still cracks me up. Anytime you pass another obvious westerner you make eye contact but then quickly look away. For a moment your excited to see another "you" but then ego kicks in and you quickly retreat.

After walking through the night market last night with a couple of fellow woofers from Estonia (I call them the "cutey-pah-tootie Estonians" you'll see pictures on fb) I escaped into a posh hotel to use the bathroom. I love using expensive hotel lobbies as a quick retreat while traveling. I remember I used to do the same when I was in the 8th grade, living in Milton just outside Boston-- I'd skip school with the cute skateboarder boys and take the red line into the city. We would loiter in fancy hotel lobbies, lounging on silky couches, pretending to be something we were not. The $100 a night Cape Racha Hotel was a nice, quick pick-me-up last night! Airconditioning, all smiles in the lobby, toilet paper, A FULL LENGTH MIRROR (haven't seen myself like that in about 3 weeks) - one could loiter in such a nice place in Thailand all night! I have it planned out- if they ask me if I'm staying there I'll just say I'm waiting for a friend and pretend not to speak English very well. Alas, I did not quit my job and travel to Thailand to kick-it in a western amenity style hotel lobby all night! Just a taste is nice though.

The ocean shore leading to my guesthouse is PACKED full of garbage and excrement- plastic bags, styrofoam- bits of this and that times 10.  All drains dump straight into the ocean. Mid squat there's about an 8 ft drop between your bottom and the water- separated by a wood floor with cracks on cement posts.

I met an amazing 79 year old Irishman upon checking into my room. Name's Ceril. He's worked for Lifesavers, Sears Roebuck and Schick Razor in his lifetime. His father was a Whisky distiller. He spoke slowly and often needed reminding of what he was talking about. He married a beauty at 27 (my age) but lost her 40 years later to his top shelf habit. He bestowed a simple line of wisdom- "you grow old too soon and smarten up too late." It's a classic, tragic human condition really. I think as 20 somethings the best things we can do sometimes is just shut the *$!% up and listen! Ceril has been coming to Thailand every year for 6 years. I asked "why Sriracha" of all places. "My first time- it was in Pitaya- sex sex sex!Now I don't have anything against sex but it's a little $&*#@^# much in Pitaya!" So after that first trip he hopped on a tuk tuk and found the guest house we were staying at via a Lonely Planet guide. He asked me if I've read "the Lonely Planet", as if it were a single book that you read front front to back. "oh of course" I said- which sort of felt like part lie since I've only read the bits about places I'm traveling to. Ceril once took a taxi from Chiang Mai to Sriracha when he couldn't get into Bangkok during the strikes about 2 years ago. He and his taxi driver stopped & enjoyed meals and coffee together along the 12 hour ride in smiley silence, lost in incompatible languages. I love having beer, conversation and a smoke with old men. Why does it always seem that men had all the adventure?! Ive shared conversations about the adventures of life with far more old men than women. I guess it's still a sign of the times- remnants of suppression. Maybe future me's will have me to talk to in my old age, 50 years from now.

I had another foot massage last night. Pure bliss. I think I may enjoy the softness of the Thai Massagers hands just as much as I do the kneading and rubbing and clever stretching techniques. A Thai massagers palms are a silky, rubbery muscle mass- sort of like dense, soft lip skin.

Work on the farm can be a little hard and tedious so I have to devise timing tricks and routines. Watering the pineapple completely lost in thought just seems unfair... what if one pineapple gets more water than the other due to me spacing out?! So I apply a steady one-one-thousand to ten-one-thousand 's worth of watering, per pineapple. This seem more fair and it's a nice meditation for me. Also some work is very strenuous so I apply a 15 minutes on, 5 minutes off ritual. I think I accomplish more in these short 15 minute bursts of digging than I would if I attempted to dig with less enthusiasm for a break that's 2, long hours away.

A positive outlook and "benefit of the doubt" for others is EVERYTHING to me lately. Discontentment and lulls and empathy and judgement follow you like a hungry beady-eyed puppy no matter where you are in the world! This is a great opportunity to learn how to switch your emotions on command. I didn't come to Thailand to wander around in a sulky daze! Whenever I feel any sort of lull creep up I say to myself, "This is it babe!What are you going to do today to make a difference in your heart and others'?!" At the same point in time I am a firm believer in humanoids letting themselves feel their emotions. It seems that all too often we suppress what we are feeling, labeling it as "negative" or "bad" or "unhealthy". There's a balance in everything though, aye? How about we just give ourselves a little more slack to experience sadness as simple sadness, in the moment, without labeling it.

I head back to Neil's farm tonight and will work one more day tomorrow, Thursday. Then it's off to Bangkok and back up to the Chiang Mai/Rai area! Looking forward to work on another farm- new faces- new tools- new dirt.

Over and out.

Here's a map of the area.

My guesthouse in Sriracha

Sriracha Bay

Goldfish. For sale.

11/16/10- WWOOFing in Bang Phra

This morning I sat on a little deck overlooking a pond on the property where Neil baths the water buffallo once a week (it's fun to watch him swim with the buffalo amongst the lilly pads). Crazy guy. There are 3 big white ducks with bubbly red bills that hang about the pond- pretty adorable ducks. Why is it that all the animals in Thailand are are so friggin adorable? Even the mangy ones I want to baby talk. So many dogs and kittens with the sweetest dang eyes you've ever seen- so grateful for the slightest pat on the head. Yes mum- I'm being careful not to touch just any animal ;) It takes about a 5-10 minute bike ride to get to an internet cafe from the farm. On the way there's a small pack of dogs that chase you and bark and threaten to nip your ankles as you peddle by. Hah! It's actually kind of funny, in a terrifying sort of way. Its a good time for me to practice "the rules of Ceasar" from the countless dog whisperer episodes that came of my hulu and netflix addiction. You just have to keep calm- stay steady- don't be afraid and peddle on by. Sheesh- it's tough sometimes though.

The mornings are peaceful and full of promise. Dahng is the first up every morning, preparing breakfast in the kitchen, on the farm. The other wwoofer's trickle in as they awake from their lacy mosquito net tents to help chop, crush, fry or mix things up. There is always a steady supply of hot water from an electric kettle that the wwoofer's religioulsy keep full for our powdered Nestcafe packets, which is quite good but doesn't act as a steadfast "shit show" like most coffee does for me. Maybe there are some things best left unshared.

Our farm is situated right across a train station that acts as an unwelcoming alarm clock- all I can do is laugh. Life is so different here. Work was long and hard today- but I was grateful for it since it's exactly the type of back breaking digging I was longing for! We dug out trees from another property for replanting on the farm- some as tall as maybe 20 feet- which meant more digging for the roots! I hung around the guys mostly today. They complain less and I love the way men like to work hard just for the sake of "working hard."

At night, a bit after dinner I lounge out and read on the couch. I could very well stare at the geckos on the ceiling all night (also really adorable)! Just counted 27 above me! One fell a minute ago with a clammy snap on the concrete floor. They crawl about on the ceiling catching mosquito's- my sweet vicarious revenge. Opp- now there's 30 above my head. wowza. I had, I think 3 generations of pet lizards named Elizardbeth as a kid- all dying an unfortunate death at the hand of smitten-7-year-old-Elise.

Dahng and Toom have 3 kids- Em is the oldest at I think 14 and speaks the best english. It's fun to teach eachother words. She tells me I'm "soy" -beautiful in Thai which makes me blush. Dahng makes a curvy geture with her hands and points at my bum and then points at hers and shakes her head. I wanted to try and explain that my bum might begin to look more like hers the more I work on the farm and eat more rice and sweat and avoid sugar and gluten and processed foods and develope a morning fitness routine that incorporates both mind and body and blah blah blah- but instead just smiled in translation. Aint no thang. The older I get the more pleased I am with my curves and southeat asia's fascination with them to-boot.

I've just got word that a farm in Chang Rai will accept me in two weeks- so I'll head there next. This weekend is some sort of fantastic local festival here that should be fun. Over and out.

11/14/10- WWOOFing in Bang Phra

First full day at Neil and Sue's farm in Bang Phra. Yesterday I arrived in Bang Phra @ about 3:30pm via a bus from Bangkok- Although refreshing to be in a place where very few people speak english- it was kind of a funny scene trying to find a toilet once off the bus! I gestured every way I could to use the bathroom and got lots of laughs. Squatted down, crossed my legs-- "pee pee" - hah! Now I know how to say toilet in Thai- "hong nam"- or something to that effect. It's good experience again being in a place where you are such an ethnic minority.  Neil picked me up- I a bit weary about his seemingly grumpy disposition.  He's an interesting guy with lots of stories, dreams and an impressive mullet to match. He drives a yellow- sort of "ford fit" looking thing which sticks out just as much as a farm full of foreigners digging and sweating in a more rural Thailand.

In addition to the farm, Neil and Sue own a Thai massage business and school. They live close to the farm. On the farm we wwoofers live with an amazing-gracious-generous Thai family that cooks us three meals a day. They speak little english, which is good for all of us to learn. We cook our meals together- lots of delicious rice and noodles and vegetables and meat. I'm in food heaven. The father- Toom- does labor with us on the farm while the mum- Dhang works at the massage business. Toom has an amazing face- beautiful piercing eyes- very symmetrical- hopefully I'll get a picture up! He's shy and does not speak much but I hear once you get a few beers in him he speaks quite good English. He works really hard and is a great role model.

Sorting the work to be done and how it should be done under Neil's direction is a bit confusing, but I'm perfectly happy and content just to dig and spread fertilizing dung around from the water buffalo and hum Joni Mitchell :) The farm has a real variety plants and is a new farm so not much by way to harvest-more weeding than anything. Banana's, galangal, lemon grass, star fruit, rice, corn, palms, herbs and lots of mystery plants, to name a few.

Smiling more consistently than I have in awhile. Stress free. Started reading The Life of Pi.

Phuket!

One of our couch surfing hosts- DJ. Amazing guy! Has been in Thailand for 3 years. He showed us around tow- drives a motor bike like a maniac (but really fun to follow)!

Lady men

breakfast

best manican EVER

I love this sauce! Chilis in salty vinegar.

My first motorbike ride-a-drivin!

Beautiful Glass by artist Sawako Fujiwara in Singapore

Meum Swingum Good

Life in the tubes

I have successfully weened myself off of my Netflix addiction! It's been almost a week since I've had to watch Netflix or pbs.org before falling alseep. Peace and quiet :)

So getting from Tokyo to Bangkok proved to be difficult but it's dropped Jon and I in some exciting and interesting places. After a night in Tokyo at the Sakura hostel in Asakusa we flew to Singapore, arriving at 12:01 am. We locked our bags up and rolled out our sleeping mats for a nice snooze. Changi airport is super modern and nice. Singapore has a booming art scene and lovely architecture. There are a set of three skyscrapers that appear to have a cruise ship nested atop! We awoke from our mats in the airport at 6:30am and took the clean and modern metro into the city. Landed ourselves in chinatown-- first stop a Ganapati Temple where devotees were doing rounds 'round the shrine (108 times.) This first stop was fitting since Ganesh is the first deity to invoke in the Hindi tradition. Also made our way to Little India, in the aftermath of a large festival the day before- shame we missed it but there were decorations and remnants about.

The food everywhere is delicious. Its so nice to be able to eat rice & meat in the morning without people thinking it's weird!

We booked a $50 person flight from Singapore to Phuket, Thailand- which wasn't ideal since I've read so much about what a sausage* fest (see below for defention)  this place is- but it's worked out really well so far.

Now we are looking for a nice beach or island near Phuket now without so many tourists. We are tourists ourselves too though, so gotta keep that in mind where ever we go!

Sun's out now- so gotta go chase it! Love to all at home. I'm very grateful for EVERYTHING.

* Sausages=  tourists spit out from one tube* to another, landing bloaded and dreary eyed, seeking the same type of pleasures they're accustomed to at home, just in a more exotic locale.

* Tube = Planes, subways, trains, terminals, dorm rooms

And it begins!

My last day with Habitat is Oct 15th! Since I started as an AmeriCorps just over 6 years ago I have been so inspired by the way in which Habitat changes lives. (yes you may have read this already from my "Build-A-Thon" profile, but its a good summary of my experience, ok?!) I've helped build homes for some of the most hard working, deserving, downright RAD families I have ever met! I have led countless volunteers through the process, providing them the opportunity to contribute. Volunteering with Habitat is empowering not only for volunteers themselves, but also for the families. In a way, it restores their faith in humanity! Imagine how blessed you would feel if 2,500 strangers helped build your home. That's just magical, my friends. I have really loved my job. It's changed my life! I have felt so honored to be a part of providing 4 AmeriCorps teams and thousands of volunteers with an experience similar to mine (their version of course) that totally tickled my fancy.

It's been 6 years (the longest I ever been in one town- in all the land- in all my life!) and it's time for a change. I miss the challenges faced when first starting with Habitat, building onsite as an AmeriCorps. I need to explore some new corners of community and volunteerism. I need to get dirty again and cry a little bit. In another country. As Ive said to a few people as of late-- I want to be told to "go over there and dig a hole" and then I want the dirt to be rock ridden and hard and I want to cry about it a bit and then I want to get over it and make it happen anyways and get those ever so priceless "this-sucks-so-bad-it's-humorous" giggles.

So my tentative plan is to try and travel and volunteer out of the states for 6 months to a year. I'm on a tight budget so I'll have to find work at some point along the way. I leave for Bangkok Oct 29th (maybe give or take) and will travel with Jon for about 2 weeks- relaxing a bit- R&R and such. Dreamy. I was going to begin teaching English with a school in Northern Thailand, but then I got on the WWOOFing train (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). And you know, I'm actually a bit burnt out on coordinating and teaching and facilitating and just want someone to tell me what to do! and get my hands dirty!

I've mapped out possible WOOF locations in Thailand and have exchanged emails with a few. Everyone seems really flexible. Basically "just tell me when you'll arrive and you've got a place with us!" Many of the locations have internet access too, which will please the mum :)

You can click over each of the locations and learn a bit more about them via the pop-up and links. I  found blogs from fellow WOOFers that worked at these locations too, which are an interesting read. Check it out: